Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) Review

Tagline: When up against pure evil...just giv'er.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) Review

 

Happy Halloween!

In Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine play Tucker and Dale, two redneck hillbillies who scare some college kids when they first encounter them on the highway, and shortly again at the local gas station. The college kids, led by the slightly unhinged Chad (of course his name is Chad) are going on a camping trip into the woods where some brutal murders happened on Memorial Day weekend years ago, and they suspect the two hillbillies might be dangerous. When it first begins, it seems like it’ll be your typical horror movie premise: evil hillbillies stalk and murder college kids. But, it is not that kind of movie at all. 

Without wasting any time, we get to see Tucker and Dale’s side of the story. They are just two harmless buddies heading up to Tucker’s vacation home, a fixer upper not far from where the college kids are camping. Dale thought the one girl in the group, Ally, was attractive, but when he tried to talk to her at the gas station, it seemed like he was being creepy. He gets a second chance to make another impression, though, when the campers go skinny dipping at night while the two of them are fishing. Ally hits her head on a rock and gets knocked out, so Dale dives in and saves her, but to the others, it looks like the two psycho hillbillies have captured her. They try to save their friend, who doesn’t actually need saving at all, and what we end up with is a hilarious and violent situation—or, as Tucker puts it, “one doozy of a day.”  

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is one of the funniest and most original Canadian-produced horror comedies ever made. It had a limited release when it first came out; a friend and I stumbled across it on Netflix years ago, but unfortunately, it still remains relatively unknown in the horror community, and I think that’s because of its outwardly generic appearance at first glance. The writing is nothing short of genius. If you’re familiar with horror movie conventions, you’ll easily be able to see how the college kids are interpreting the events, but seeing both perspectives just makes it even funnier. Poor Tucker and Dale are befuddled by what happens, the kids are terrified, and every new situation or event builds on the previous one. Just to give an example, as one college kid approaches the cabin, Tucker accidentally saws into a log with a bee hive in it and gets swarmed by bees. This prompts him to swing his chainsaw around while screaming, swatting at the bees, but it’s clear how the kid is seeing it: he thinks this psycho is running after him with a chainsaw trying to kill him! The whole thing is the perfect blend of coincidence, absurdity, and clever humour. 

Tucker and Dale are extremely likable characters, thanks in no small part to the commitment from Labine and Tudyk, plus their great chemistry. The teens are what you’d expect, but they generate many genuine laughs. There’s more to it than just humour. It is a blend of comedy and horror (but more comedy) because the real villain comes to light toward the end as the college kids get killed off one by one, and it leads to a kick ass finale. It’s not all gore and laughs, either. There are some genuinely wonderful character moments, and even a couple real-world lessons to be learned: don’t judge people by the way they look, and learn how to deal with past trauma in a healthy way. Trying to find genuine criticisms is tough. If I had to cite anything, it would be that the cinematography isn’t that appealing. The colours are washed out and the camera work is unremarkable. That’s pretty much it. There isn’t really anything bad I have to say.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is criminally underrated, and I felt like it was my duty to help spread the word about it. At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, but if you could only watch one of the movies I’ve reviewed over this past month, I recommend this one the most. It’s just like the lesson learned within the film itself: sometimes, you have to take a chance on something, and sometimes, that chance pays off.  

 

This concludes the eighth year in a row of Clayton’s Creepy Cinema! I hope you found some enjoyable movies to watch this October, and until next time, have a safe and happy Halloween!